News

The girls of The Pack AD are a well oiled touring machine, and after four months on the road they are still going strong! Exclaim and Mint Records offer you a chance to win autographed Pack AD treasures (including: the band's signed and destroyed cymbal/drum head, Pack A.D. vinyl, Mint samplers, a Mint tote bag and pins galore!). Hit up our pals at exclaim.ca here for contest details, then go see the girls tear the roof off of a venue near you!

Summer is just around the corner, and the warmer weather brings the festivals! NXNE is coming up soon and our Winnipeg locals Novillero and Edmonton comrades Hot Panda will be heading to the Toronto for some late night veggie dogs. Hot Panda Sat June 20@ The Horseshoe Tavern*CBC Radio 3 Showcase*NovilleroSat June 20@ The El MocamboCalgary's Sled Island (June 24-27) lineup is also looking promising this year and we've got more Mint bands than ever scheduled to perform! Nardwuar and the Evaporators are preparing for their summer split 7" release, A Wild Pear, with Mr. Andrew WK. The EvaporatorsFriday, June 26th10:55 PM@ The Plaza Theatre*all ages*Hot Panda are back from their UK tour with The Von Bondies and, weather permitting, will be tubing down the river before playing their late night showcase. Hot PandaFriday, June 26th9:15 PM@ The Plaza Theatre*all ages*Novillero are packing up their van, kissing their newborn babies goodbye and migrating West for the weekend. NovilleroSaturday, June 271:00 AM@ The Marquee RoomAnd our hardest working band, The Pack A.D. are driving back onto Canadian soil and looking forward to Tim Hortons' coffee, measuring distances in kilometers and the Sled Island festival, of course.The Pack A.D.Thursday, June 2512:00 AM@ The Palomino SmokehouseCalgary surf legends The Ramblin' Ambassadors will be there for the festivities as well. It's going to be good! The Ramblin' AmbassadorsThursday, June 25th 12:40 AM@ Broken City

The Pack A.D. play a homecoming gig at the Biltmore Cabaret in Vancouver, followed up with touring across Canada this summer.

Maya Miller and Becky Black of The Pack A.D. are the hardest working gals we know. They've been on the road non-stop since March (SXSW), traveling in the Falcon (their van) all across the USA, playing 84 shows in 95 days, each show winning them new friends and fans. They're doing it old school and it's all about the fans. How does old school work? "We tour like hell, and if you like us, then you tell your friends. Then your friends tell their friends and so on and before you know it, you've made the band. " They're not interested in being the flavour of the month. Now back in Vancouver, The Pack A.D. are getting ready for their big homecoming gig at the Biltmore Cabaret on Friday June 19th (their last scheduled show in Vancouver til December). Then for the rest of the summer they will be back in their trusty van touring all across Canada before heading back over to Europe in the fall. The Pack A.D. are going to play some music and have some drinks - so all you have to do is show up and bring your friends!Fri June 19, Vancouver BC @ Biltmore CabaretSat June 20, Kelowna BC @ Doc Willoughby'sThu June 25, Calgary AB @ The Palomino - Sled Island Fri June 26 Whitehorse YK @ Sunstroke Music FestivalThu July 2 Edmonton AB @ Brixx BarFri July 3 Regina SK @ O'HanlonsSat July 4 Winnipeg MB @ Lo PubTues July 7 Thunder Bay ON @ The ApolloWed July 8 Sault Ste. Marie ON @ Arcadia HouseThu July 9, Sudbury ON @ The TownehouseFri July 10, London ON @ Call The OfficeSat July 11, Windsor ON @ Phog LoungeTues July 14, Kingston ON @ The MansionThu July 16, Toronto ON @ The HorseshoeFri July 17, Montreal QC @ L'EscoSat July 18, Quebec City QC @ Festival d’étéMon July 20, Halifax NS @ Gus's PubTue July 21, New Minas NS @ West Side CharliesThu July 23, Ottawa ON @ Zaphod BeeblebroxThu July 30, Regina SK @ The ExchangeFri July 31, Saskatoon SK @ Amigo'sSat Aug 1, Lethbridge AB @ HenoticSun Aug 2, Canmore AB @ The DrakeWed Aug 5, Calgary AB @ Broken CitySat Aug 8, Nanaimo BC @ Green Mountain Music Festival

NEWSFLASH!Some exciting news for Hot Panda! After a brief encounter at SXSW and a frenzy of emails, our Hot Panda are joining the Von Bondies on their upcoming European tour. And they leave soon – on April 16th.The band is thrilled about the adventure. However, to go, they had to postpone the last part of their North American tour. So, if you are in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Halifax, Fredericton, Quebec City, Montreal, or Ottawa, the Pandas will be rescheduling those dates soon. We promise!Sun April 19, Hamburg, Molotow w/ Von BondiesMon April 20, Berlin, Magnet w/ Von BondiesThu April 23, London, Kings College w/ Von BondiesFri April 24, London, The Windmill BrixtonSat April 25, Birmingham, Bar Academy w/ Von BondiesSun April 26, Glasgow, King Tuts w/ Von Bondies Mon April 27, Manchester, Ruby Lounge w/ Von BondiesWed April 29, Koln, Gebaude w/ Von BondiesThu April 30, Vienna, Flex w/ Von BondiesMon May 4, Amsterdam, Melkweg Old Room w/ Von BondiesTue May 5, Paris, Nouveau Casino w/ Von BondiesEND OF NEWSFLASH!

Gang, if you haven't been flattened by Hurricane Pack it's only a matter of time, so batten down the hatches and board up the windows, 'cause there's an ill wind blowing your way. Maya and Becky have been ripping it up stateside since MARCH 6 people, and they won't be finished until LATE MAY. You try it. I bet you don't have what it takes.

Anyway, the list is too long to post here, so linkup to our tour dates page here to see if your in the storm's path. Here are some extra special landfall warnings to watch out for:

Thursday April 23: Santos Party House, Manhattan, NYC

Friday April 24: Capital Music Hall, Ottawa with Black Mountain and Ladyhawk

Saturday April 25: Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto with Hanson Brothers

OK this concludes your weather warning for today, now go stock up on supplies and like the BSA says, BE PREPARED.

We're feeling good about our annual migration south of the Canadian border to SXSW. In March, we will be ditching the woolly mittens, packing our sunglasses, slathering on the sunscreen and getting in some quality time with new (and old) friends. We've got two parties planned this year. The Evaporators, Hot Panda, Immaculate Machine, The Pack A.D., the Handsome Family and our friend Jill Barber will be playing our evening showcase on Saturday, March 21st at Habanna Calle 6.And, for our annual afternoon Hootenanny on Thursday, March 19th at Headhunters, come build your own tacos, bask in the sunshine and enjoy some music courtesy of Hot Panda, Immaculate Machine, The Pack AD, Thee Goblins (aka: Nardwuar), Gentleman Reg, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, The Handsome Family and win great prizes courtesy of Mint, Daisy Rock Guitars and Six Cent Press. Now, here are the dirty details:Mint Records Label ShowcaseSaturday, March 21stHabana Calle 6 (709 E 6th St)

After 10 years, 6 albums and countless tours, The Buttless Chaps have decided to part ways. No hard feelings exist amongst band members, just a feeling that it is time to move on to new musical projects and that the band has creatively run its course. The most recent incarnation of the band featured Dave Gowans on vocals, guitar and banjo, Morgan McDonald on keyboards, Lasse Lutick on guitar and synthesizer, Dan Gaucher on drums, and Ida Nilsen on vocals, accordion, synthesizer and euphonium. Mint Records released their final album in 2008 titled Cartography. Original drummer Torben Wilson left the band a few years prior to these last recording sessions. The Chaps have been known for their vibrant, eclectic live shows and a fearlessness with experimenting in the studio, always exploring many different muscial genres within their compositions. Over the years the band had several notable highlights, touring with acts such as The Rheostatics & The Handsome Family, and having several concerts and sessions recorded by CBC Radio. One session titled CBC Radio 3 Sessions was released digitally last year and featured contributions from Jesse Zubot (violin) and Peggy Lee (cello).Some members will continue with their other projects; Great Aunt Ida, Fond of Tigers & Bad Human all have recording plans in the works and lead singer Gowans will be finishing a record this spring with new act Cloudsplitter. The band also features Nilsen and Zubot, and will likely perform select concerts.

The Buttlesss Chaps will perfom one last confirmed show at the Dawson City Music Festival in July and are considering a farewell concert in Vancouver B.C. around the same time. Mint Records is proud to have released four recordings by the Chaps, 2003's Love This Time, 2005's Where Night Holds Light and last year's Cartography, and CBC Radio 3 Sessions. Some press for Cartography: "It's an album that makes you close your eyes and listen, which is always a good sign." - Edmonton SunGowans ability to pen a sci-fi ballads and rural anthems (and tracks like Coal Grey Sky will satisfy any classic Chaps fan), but with beautiful harmonies, static electro currents and terrific percussion the Chaps are able to replicate lonely nights in dark cities (the energy that crackles throughout the desolate title track is incredible). - HeroHillBlending folk-country with a bit of atmospheric new wave sentimentality, Cartography takes you on a soft, dream-like journey that you won't want to wake up from. - DiscorderSombre country rock underpins world-weary vocals, and while the guitars may twang, the effect is closer to a musical meditation than a whiskey-soaked hoedown. This basic foundation allows for some interesting side trips -- such as the vocoder-filled gravitas of The Opera, which wouldn't sound out of place on an Air album-- while still providing an ideal soundtrack for a late-autumn solitary trek through fallen leaves. Suitable for a cool, Canadian October. - The National PostFrom the dead-souls darkwave of "Broken Transit, Broken Soil" to the campfire twang of "Water by the Wayside", the group's latest album, Cartography, maps out terrain where others would fear to tread. It's a good indication that, 10 years into their career, the Chaps are just getting started. - Georgia StraightCartography is an ideal name for an album that reveals itself as an expedition across unknown landscapes, matching in name the record's sense of discovery, of twists and turns, of behemoth rocks rising suddenly out of the ground where just moments ago there was plains and rolling hills. - Vue WeeklyCartography is a mesmerizing, virtual magnum opus from Vancouver's The Buttless Chaps. While previous Chaps albums have always tested the boundaries between organic folk and synthetic electronica, Cartography is an even more aggressive exploration of this binary, resulting in a beautifully wrought, complex and cohesive outing. - Chart MagazineWhat with GPS gizmos and Internet pathfinders, the art of cartography is probably now archaic. And yet, with its latest release, British Columbia's the Buttless Chaps sounds nothing like dated. Cartography is panoramic and often futuristic, expansive in its arrangements and lyrical imagery. The band and leader Dave Gowans specialize in juxtaposing old sounds with new wave. The title track updates Doorsian psychedelia with a spacier direction, and a funny thing happens on the way to The Opera, a sublime track with a classic piano motif and a robotic vocoder. Water by the Wayside forebodes gently; Coal Grey Sky has a folk-rock strum. If it sounds like the Chaps are all over the map, that just isn't the case. Rather, its course is absolutely chosen. - The Globe and Mailit combines strummy folk songs with vaguely futuristic synths and effects-laden guitars into a serene chamber-pop hybrid. - Ubyssey"one hell of a new album... The gorgeous artwork accentuates the excellent album to a T. Both are exploratory things of beauty, well worth the investment of your time." - Monday Magazine"...this is a band at its peak and Cartography is a work of art." - Discorder Magazine

Mint Records' newest signing, Hot Panda, are set to release their debut full length album Volcano... Bloody Volcano on February 10th, 2009. Hailing from Edmonton Alberta, Hot Panda formed during the particularly chilly winter of 2006 and have already become an experienced touring act, playing well over a hundred shows in a very short time (including CMJ and PopMontreal this past October).Volcano... Bloody Volcano is a collection of collaborative songs chock-full of the band's spastic energy. Comparisons to luminaries such as Daniel Johnson and The Talking Heads have been swirling about and while it is always nice to be compared to such bands, Hot Panda have certainly found their own sound. Leaving behind the frozen garage jam sessions in which their musical explorations began, Hot Panda have been taking their unique blend of Brit Pop, Glam & Lo-fi Indie back and forth across the expansiveness of Canada and the USA winning new friends and fans.

This year’s Mint Records Ridiculously Early Xmas party is over and after an action-packed night and tons of great music, we've managed to raise $1765 for the ALS Society of Canada.

The ALS Society of Canada is committed to supporting research towards a cure for ALS, supporting provincial ALS societies in their provision of quality care for persons living with ALS and building public awareness of ALS and its impact.

Thanks to Bella, Vancougar, the Awkward Stage, Young & Sexy, Hot Panda, The Ramblin' Ambassadors and Novillero for making this event such a success! As always, a special thank-you goes out to our generous prize sponsors, and of course to everyone who came out to the Cambrian Hall to join us!